Improvement in machinery for making axes



tnitrd` gieten @strat-@Wire Letters Patent No. 94,232,dated .August 31, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT'IN MAcHINERY PQR MAKING Axes.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY D. Monats, of the town of Baldwinsville, county of Onondaga, and Stateof New York,haveeinventcd certain devices',which, in their combination I have termed an Axe-Head Hammerer; and I hereby declare the following to be a sufciently clear and exact description of the same, that any one skilled in such matters may make and use the same.

The object of my invention consists chiefly in the construction and arrangement of a series of dies, capable of being operated as hammers, instead of by pressure, and so conveniently arranged relatively to each other that the operation of forming the head of an axe may be completed at one heat, or without the necessity of reheating, as is always required when the work is done by hand. v

Imay here remark that some dies of the exact shape of the axe, or that portion of it to be operatedupon,

are now used in powerfullpresses, and that to some extent the operation of shaping is thereby partially accomplished, but the scale or oxide of the iron and other substances that may adhere to the blank, are all squeezed into the metal, and the work is not nearly so completely performed as when a series of blows by hammers of the proper shape are given to the metal, allowing the scale and other extraneous substances to be driven olf, and the' quality and surface of the metal to be greatly improved.

' Figure 1 represents a view of my devices, as combined in one frame or machine, shown in elevation.

Figure 2, a section, through the red line a b.`

Figure 3, an end view of the machine, in elevation, and where the shears are arranged for trimming-off the corners of the axe-poll.

Figure 4 is a section, through the dies and anvil, upon which the clamp or .vise is arranged for forming the poll or end of the axe-head.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the dies, shown in fig. 2, but with the axe held edgewise in the edging portion of said dies. i Y

.Figure 6 represents the eyepin or tool used for shaping the or hole for the belve or handle of the axe.

Like letters refer to like parts in -all the drawings.

Upon a frame, as M and M', of any convenient dimensions, and of suitable material, are mounted a series of bars or plungers, 1, 2, and ,3, all arranged to work freely iu guides, which admit of their being readily lifted by tappets, t, upon .a shaft, s, motion Abeing given to said shaft. by any convenient system o f belting, as by fast and loose pulleys, shown at p, iig. l.

A certain 'portion of said bars 1, 2, and-3 is made square where they work through their bearings, to

prevent their turning or rotating while moving'up and down. Y

At the upper end of said bars I have used springs,

as shown at :c x x, so arranged that Whenthe bars are lifted by the tappets the springs are compressed or sprung to such an extent that an increased and'qnicker action is givento the bars than would be given by their gravity alone. Y Y

. Upon the lower end of said bars are fastened the moving portion of the dies for shaping the axe, and immediately underneath them are arranged,`upon suit` ble anvil-blocks or supports, the corresponding portions of said dies.

f These dies are .made of any suitable material, as steel or chilled iron, for sustaining the work required of them, and their forms are varied to suit the shape ofthe axe to be made, though the principles of their operation remain the same in all.

'The blank for the head of the axe is made at the iron-works, where va suicient quantity of iron is out from a rolled bar to form a single axe, without the steel. An oval-shaped hole, where the eye is to be formed, is also punched in it, and in this condition the axe-maker procures it. I V

My process then is to Vattaclithe steel'in the usual manner by hand-work, dressing up said portionready for the grindstones. l'

The iron portion of the axe, or that whichI term the` head, is now .to be finished, and the process yis as follows: .y

The blank is raised to the proper working. tempera` ture inthe forge, lire, or furnace, is then clasped by a pair of tongs, as represented at q, iig. 5, the eye-pin, shown at fig. 6, which is considerably smaller at the point than head, is introduced into the hole already formed in the blank, and being controlled by the handle on said pin, 'the blank is placed on edge, between the dies,as shown at B B, iig. 1, andthe pin is there driven down andthrough the blank, as by a hammer, the lower end of the pin projecting into a recess in theV lower die or anvil, as shown 'by the dotted points at the lower B, underneath hammer 2.

One or two blows of this hammer .serve to fix the pin when the tongs are removed, and the blank is then placed ou its side, between thedies, at A, the steel of the blank being toward the operator, and best shown at A A, iig. 2, the blank being indicated by the lines in blue. y

The faces of-these dies being of the proper shape to conform to the sides of the finished axe', a few blows of hammer `1 shape the sides to such an extent that the edges must be dressed.

But before removing the eyefpin to permit of this being done, it sometimes happens that the blank is notof suicient width to give the proper shape about the eye-hole, or where the handle is inserted, and some kinds of patterns require also a greater width at that point to give greater support to the handle; consequently, if the operator should discover the blank to be too narrow, he shifts it to the dies at D D, and holds it on its side, as shown by the lines in blue, 'controlling it by the eye-pin and its handle, as before, and there spreads or swages out the blank to its required width at the points desired.

The dies at D D, of hammer 3, are from the front to the rear, about the same shape as the dies already named at A A, that is, conforming to the sides of the axe, but their sides are rounded o from their bases to their faces, as shown at D D, to give thesproper spreading action to them.

This part of the process is in many cases not required, and is only provided for to make my devices complete.

. The blank, if much roughened by this swaging-operation, Iis again returned to the dies at A A, and

'struck a few blows to smooth it, when it is placed in' the clamp or vise, at C O, under hammer 2.

This clamp or'vise has the faces of its jaws to conform to th'e sides of the axe, as at A A, and one of the jaws is movable, and may be closed and held by a screw or crank, as indicated by the lines in blue, at tig. 4.

The steel end or cutting-edgeof the blank in process of formation, is placedl between said jawsdownward, as shown at fig. 4, and a few blows are struck upon the poll to giveit the required shape, the moving die in this case being the eounterpait of Whatever pattern' is required.

And these forms l nd, too, are more generally de` mande-.d by the dealers as a kind of 'trade-mark or specialty, than a necessity of the woodmen or users of axes.

' As the edges now require finishing, the tongs are again applied, the eye-pin is removed by a single blow upon its point, on any of the anvils, and the blank now nearly -nished, is placed between the dies A A', in the position seen at fig. 5.

' Under these dies, as shown at A A and A' A', and at C C, the operation is' completed, changing from yone to the other, and introducing theeye-pin when -an extent that the metal of the blank cannot be forged into the proper shape, but must be removed from 'the blanks. y v

For this purpose -I' have combined upon' the same frame a pair of shears or cutting-dies, as shown at H H, iigs. 1 and 3, which may be operated by a cam, h, and spring n, in such a manner that the operatormay trim ot any extra metal upon tliepoll before introducing the blank to the vise C C, where the poll receives its proper shape.

Having thus described my devices and'the process of finishing the hammer-work upon the heads of axes, I wish to say that these devices, especially such as the dies, may be all arranged in' separate machines, but they must be in sufficiently close proximity to each other that the operatorcan easilyand quickly change from one to the other, otherwise the blank would have to be reheated before the operation could be finished. Vhat l claim, therefbre, and desire to Asecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Jointly,vthe method of and mechanism for forging and sha-pin g axes, substantially as herein described.

. 2. The arrangement, in one machine, ofthe severall sets of dies and the shearing-device hereinbefore deseribed.

3. The construction and arrangement of the dies' B B and `C C, substantially as described.

. HENRY D. MORRIS.

Witnesses:

BOYD ELIOT, JOHN HALL. 

